The Grande Prix Cycliste de Beauce kicked off Tuesday with a hard 125-kilometer stage around the environs of Quebec City. John Lieswyn (7Up-Maxxis) took the stage and the first leader's jersey in a two-up finish with Chris Baldwin (Navigators).

The opening stage was a wake up call to the riders: you will be climbing; A lot. After four circuits of an 8-kilometer loop with a significant climb on the south side of the St Lawrence River, in the town of Levis, the peloton headed north across the river to Quebec, where they did another eight circuits, with a tough 14-percent climb each lap. The infamous Gilmour Street climb starts at 14 percent for 600 meters, before tapering off to a relatively mild 10 percent for the other 900 meters. The stage finishes at the top of the climb.

Greg Henderson (7 Up-Maxxis) and Irving Aguilar (Tecos-Mercurio) went away early, within the first 10km of the start, reaching a maximum gap of 3:45 on a complacent field. Once the riders hit the Gilmour Street circuit the gap began to drop fairly rapidly and the breakaways were caught with two laps to go.

Counterattacks began immediately, with a group of 20 quickly establishing a gap, which soon shrank to 12 riders. All the major teams were represented, so their advantage soon built to a minute.

On the final climb to the finish, Baldwin initiated a strong attack and only Lieswyn was able to match him, going on to take the stage in an anti-climactic finish, with Baldwin appearing to not contest the sprint very hard.

The GP Cycliste de Beauce continues Wednesday with a 169 kilometer circuit beginning and ending in Levis.